Iconic H.B. McDonald's mural painted over after vandalism

Coming to the United States from Iran via Vienna, young art student Saeed Danosian had a special place in his heart ... for McDonald's.

It was 1992, and working part-time as a manager at the Huntington Beach McDonald's while he went to school, Danosian used his artistic talents to create an iconic mural on a liquor store wall next to McDonald's that depicted characters like Ronald McDonald, the Hamburgler and Grimace frolicking at the beach next to the Huntington Beach Pier.

The mural could not have been a bigger target for graffiti artists, but it survived unscathed until early September. While the McDonald's was undergoing a facelift, vandals used black paint to print the word "VEGAN" across the middle of the 120-foot wide mural, effectively destroying it.

"I was just heartbroken when I came in and saw what had happened," said John Patterson, the longtime operations supervisor at McDonald's.

Patterson said McDonald's originally used a neutral paint to cover just the word "vegan," but it began to fade. McDonald's officials then felt their only option was to paint over the entire mural. Today, the liquor store wall is covered with a sea of red paint.

Sepi Danosian Bahadori, who was 12 when her father painted the mural, is asking why it couldn't have been saved.

"I thought the wall was really special because it kind of started my dad's career," said Bahadori, who is married, pregnant with her first child and living in Irvine. "He started doing murals after that, but the McDonald's one was his largest – his pride and joy."

Saeed Danosian died of a heart attack in 2008.

Born in Tehran and educated in Vienna, Saeed Danosian came to the United States in 1988 and settled in Mission Viejo, working as an assistant manager at McDonald's in Lake Forest. He was later named manager of the Huntington Beach McDonald's on Edinger Avenue.

Danosian had been a McDonald's manager in Vienna while he studied art in college, his daughter said. The blank wall next door to the Huntington Beach McDonald's got his attention and he came up with the idea to create the mural. He went on to create other murals at Harbor Christian School and in the Father Serra Chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano.

But his most iconic was the McDonald's painting. Bahadori said the wall lasted 20 years "without a scratch on it."

Bahadori said she was "pretty upset" about the vandalism but she's more upset the entire mural was covered up. She also believes whoever wrote "vegan" on the mural was more interested in making a statement than defacing the wall.

"It could have been an ironic artistic statement," she said. "But I truly believe the person who did it didn't want to damage the mural. There's so much more damage they could have done."

She contacted city officials but they say it's out of their hands because the mural was on private property.

"It is on private property but ultimately, it's a budget issue," said Laurie Frymire, the city's community relations officer. "I suggested that she solicit help from a council member who is sympathetic to take up the cause."

Bahadori said she would have liked to see a call for volunteers to paint over the word "vegan."

"That's what my dad would have done," she said. "And if someone could re-create it, that would be ideal."